Lords Of The Flies

To think that both these breeds of poisonous snakes dwell around us here in Louisiana at all times is pretty scary. I’m much more frightened of cottonmouths, who are notably more aggressive than rattlesnakes.

Don’t forget copperheads. I’ll bet you have those too, although they’re the least venomous of the pit vipers. They aren’t appealing creatures, but they have their place. I hasten to add that their “place” isn’t in my yard. I’ve long since stopped killing venomous snakes in the field, but if I find one in the yard, I usually reach for the hoe. Still, I feel bad about killing them. I find copperheads beautiful in their snakeish way.

Me and the dogs are out in the riparian jungle almost everyday. Caught a speckled king snake just yesterday for some pics. It’s been 20 years here now, and 20 more before that in texas walking in lots of places with rattlesnakes, copperheads and cottonmouths with the very occasional coral snake. Rattle snakes that rattled I sent on their way. Those that did not will not have anymore children. Now cottonmouths must go on to snake heaven since they represent a real and present danger to dogs following their nose around on the ground. I don’t like it but I fear for my dumb animals, not me. I’m out there all the time and only see 2 or 3 a year with maybe one up around where they will not go anymore. The unreasonable fear of snakes I see all the time used to really bother me, but now I try to see the humor in it. I like to tell people about the cottonmouths I see all the time that chase my bike down the trail, the one that struck and gave me a flat tire, or those real intrepid snakes that fall on me from overhanging branches. Makes me laugh!

I hate cottonmouths. They are just mean and aggressive. My son and a couple of friends were in a john boat in a pond the other day and a cottonmouth started chasing the boat. Snake was diverted and then dispatched.

But I go fishing with my son here in Central Texas all the time, and have seen dozens of water snakes, including moccasins. While moccasins definitely have a reputation of being extremely aggressive, no water snake I’ve seen has ever tried to attack me. Indeed, none has shown any real interest in me or my son. Most of them just swim past us and go on their merry way.

My dog alerted me to a moccasin behind my house a couple of days ago. It was having a hard time swallowing a very large field rat. I managed to get it to wrap itself well enough around a very long hoe that I was able to carry it out to the woods by the river (Tallahatchie) and give it a good heave. I suppose some day it or progeny might make its way back and put us at risk again, but a few things keep me from living in psychotic fear. First, the woods around here are probably at niche-capacity for just about every wild animal, so the odds that that snake will have any effect on the population in general are pretty low. Second, most snakes, even if you come pretty close, don’t strike. Finally, snake bites are rarely fatal.

There are advantages of living in a climate that is hostile to life for five months of the year. Here’s a snippet from the state’s website:

There are only two venomous snakes in Massachusetts – the timber rattlesnake and the copperhead. (Contrary to popular belief, there are no venomous “water moccasins” in the Bay State, only harmless water snakes.) Statewide, populations of our two endangered venomous snakes are believed to number no more than a few hundred individuals. Due to a host of problems, these populations are probably still declining despite rigorous efforts to protect them. Our “rattlers” are now known to exist at only a dozen or so widely scattered sites in mountainous regions of the state; the distribution of copperheads is even more restricted. As a result, most of Massachusetts is completely devoid of venomous serpents.

The website is devoid of any risk estimates presented by Sasquatch or alligators. Assuming this is not an over site, I am considerably safer than a Louisiana resident from marauding wildlife.

Another nice thing about Portland: We’re completely devoid of both poisonous snakes, and mostly devoid of poisonous spiders. While Oregon has rattlesnakes, they’re only found east of the Cascades; copperheads, coral snakes, and cottonmouths are not to be found in the state. (At least not in the wild).

Likewise, Oregon has no brown recluses, and the Willamette Valley seems to be mostly free of black widows (these, too, can be found in the eastern and southern parts of the state). Hobo spiders, which we have plenty of, seem to not be as dangerous as previously thought.